Hi everyone I am going thru alot of stress and anxiety and I am constantly worried about my heart. I don't always worry about having a heart attack I just feel like my heart is going to stop beating at any moment. Especially when it slows down alot and I can't really feel it. When I feel take my pulse rate from my neck when I am laying down it feels really slow but when I stand up or walk around it speeds up. But I have noticed that sometimes when I take my pulse and it is beating kind of fast if I don't exhale or inhale it slows down right away. Is that normal? My husband told me that when you hold your breath your heart rate is supposed to speed up but mine slows down. But I don't take a deep breath and then hold it I just don't breathe for a second or two and it slows it right down. So am I going crazy or is all of this normal? This causes alot of my panic attacks because I am always checking my pulse. Please help!

Hi there, girl calm down!! Now, I know what your going through, and most people on this board do too. I check my pulse non-stop too, although my pulse checking is because it is going too fast all the time. When I'm laying down it is 60-80bpm and when I stand up it is 130bpm, and then will skip and have hard heartbeats. I wish my heart rate was like yours, your so lucky to me, but I know that probably doesn't help you. What is your pulse when you take it? I bet it is probably in the correct range. The hard to breathe is from your anxiety, and again a very common symptom. Try blowing in a paper bag if you start feeling like your going to pass out or if your hands or feet get tingly. That helps getting your breathing back to normal. Maybe you should talk to your doctor if you can't calm down. I feel for you, because I know how bad this sucks, but know your not alone. I'm sharing this with you. Hugs, Michelle

You are so sweet thank you for writing me back! That makes me feel better that you can relate. It's weird when I have panic attacks my heart doesn't race it stays the same kind of slow. I just get a really scary feeling that comes over my whole body like I am going to die and my heart just stopped. My therapist says it is caused by mind telling myself this stuff and that I am making it happen by thinking about it all the time. I have been laying around all night and my heart just feels so slow to me that I don't even feel it when I lay down. I used to feel it all the time thru my chest and that kind of reassured me that it was beating. But now alot of times when I am resting I don't feel anything unless I put my hand to my throat to check it out. I just took my pulse while I am sitting here at the computer and it was 89 bpm. But I am a little nervous and I just walked up the stairs a couple of minutes ago. Do you think people ever worry that their heart rate is too slow or that it will stop? Is it normal to not feel your heart beating all the time through your chest or something? I don't know how to get rid of these weird feelings. I took .5 of ativan a little bit ago and an advil liquigels hoping to calm down. I am also having pain all over which I hear can be caused by all of my anxiety. Do you know what a normal resting pulse rate is? I have taken it before and it was always around 70. Anyway, thank you for talking to me about all of this. I hope you feel better also. Anxiety is a pain!

Also, not to worry again but I noticed that when I lay down at night especially that whenever I get up to do anything I will look in the mirror and my face is white or really pale. After I walk around a little the color starts to come back some. Could that just be from all of this stress and being drained? It looks like I am really sick. What do you think?

When I have a panic episode, my face goes white too, so I think it is from your anxiety. You sound really panicky to me right now. I think your going to feel better when that Ativan kicks in. I am thinking about taking one myself, but for the exact opposite reason, a high pulse, haha. Wish I was in your shoes. As for a normal heart rate, everyone is different, some people can have a normal resting rate in the 50's, while some can have it high as
90. I only wish I couldn't feel my every heartbeat. It makes me more aware of them. 89bpm is not low, so you definetely should not be worried about that. You said when you've taken it before it was always around 70? That is definetely not low either. Low is 40 to 50. When I am sleeping, my pulse is around 60, which is nice for me, but I know people that have it in the
50's. Pain all over the body can be normal, you should look on the forum where it shows the symptoms of anxiety, it can be soo many things, and physical symptoms too. Did the Ativan kick in yet? Michelle

When I was in my 20s, I noticed that my pulse would be in the 40s when I was laying in bed at night. Since I was conscious, I figured it was okay. Now I am in my 50s and my pulse doesn't get that low anymore. But it does still go below 60 beats a minute, around 54 or so.

Are you able to feel your pulse thru your chest with your hand? I can feel my husbands but I can't feel my own he can only feel mine thru my chest when he puts his head on my chest and then he can only hear it beating. I can only feel it thru my neck or sometimes my wrist? Is that normal? I thought we were supposed to be able to feel it thru out chests. This only happens when I am laying down though. When my heart rate is up I can feel it a little bit. What do you think?

Hi how are you? Yes my ativan kicked in last night but I am having the same issues tonight with my heart I just feel like there is an elephant on my chest it is so hard to breathe. I took .5 mgs of ativan about an hour ago and it isn't working yet. All of this starts because I am so worried about the pains in my chest and legs and keep thinking they are blood clots. I don't know why I can't calm down. I put my hand on my husbands chest tonight and I can feel his heart right away but mine I can't. I just keep feeling like it is going to stop. How do I make this stop?

70 and 89 are not low pulse rates! 70 is actually pretty good and the 89 may even be considered high by some people. I certainly wouldn't worry about that. I wish my pulse rate was between 70 and 90. Without medication my pulse rate is between 80-140 and with medication it is between 45-80. My heart rate is all over the place. A lot of us on this board have issues with our hearts. I am pretty obsessed with mine right now. It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about. Try to calm down and stop checking your pulse. (I know, easier said than done.) Also, sometimes I can see my heart beating through my chest and I hate it. I think it is pretty normal to NOT be able to feel your heart beat through your chest.

daisy25 - I can't feel my heartbeat from my chest. When I check my pulse, I do it in my neck. Sometimes your heart will beat hard and sometimes it won't. That is normal. I'm always relieved when mine is quiet because I hate when it pounds really hard. Your heart rate sounds perfectly normal to me. Your face is probably pale because you are having anxiety; mine does that, too. Anxiety can cause so many physical symptoms and your symptoms sound like anxiety to me. I hope you are feeling better today. Take care.

Hi thanks for writing me back. I also started gettind shortness of breath last night that felt better when I went to sleep but today I feel like it is really hard to breathe. I guess my question is if I am not having a panic attack at the moment and I am relaxing can my body still feel stressed? I have stressed out for a long time now and I am actually trying to calm down and relax but I still feel short of breath. Should I be worried that this goes along with the pain I am having?

daisy25 - I get short of breath, too, along with chest pains and a rapid heartbeat. Sometimes it happens all at the same time and sometimes it does not. Yes, you can have symptoms even when you aren't having a panic attack. I have anxiety symptoms every day and I haven't had a panic attack for over a year. I get little anxiety attacks but for the most part I just feel anxious all day. Some days are great and others are not and PMS plays a big part in my anxiety. Even though you are trying to relax, you are probably still anxious. Try making yourself busy. Sometimes when I'm anxious, I'll clean or take my dog outside to play or something to get my mind off of my symptoms I'm feeling. My symptoms almost always go away. If I just sit there, I feel worse because I keep thinking about my symptoms.

Hi~I actually didn't feel anxious today I just think I am stressed out from everything I am going thru. I tried to run errands but I feel really tired and short of breath today. I slept really good last night so I have no idea why I am tired. It's so hard for me to tell myself that being short of breath is from stress and anxiety and not from a blood clot or heart attack. How long should I let the shortness of breath last or does it just stay until the anxiety is gone?